Celery stalks (apium graveolens) are a member of the esteemed zero calorie vegetable group, so if they did clear acne, it would be truly brilliant.
Assuming that no hidden acne-causing toxins existed, you’d be able to eat celery all day and pile up the acne nutrition to an unlimited extent. Biting into celery is instantly promising, as the strong taste which repels so many is usually indicative of nutrition.
The undeniable truth is that celery contains a wide variety of nutrients, but not high amounts of them. 50 grams of celery contains 1% of the RDI for magnesium, 2% for vitamin C, 4% for vitamin A and a stone cold 0% for zinc. Celery is far feebler for acne nutrition than broccoli, kale or spinach.
Where uncooked and easily available celery really shines for acne is in improving blood flow to the skin.
Celery dilates your blood vessels
You might be aware that cured meats like ham and bacon are increasingly linked to cancer, and that organic celery powder is touted as a healthier way to make them. The reason is the celery stalk’s extreme density in naturally occurring nitrates, as opposed to the synthetically manufactured nitrates usually added to ham. Celery powder consists of 2.75% nitrate, and celery itself, including the bitter leaves, is equally rich in it…
…and these nitrates are why celery is so excellent for blood flow. The moment you bite into a celery stalk, benign bacteria on your tongue begin to ferment the nitrates and produce nitrinines as metabolites. As you swallow the celery, benign gut bacteria get in on the act, fermenting the nitrinines and turning them into nitric oxide. NO is a vasodilating gas, involved with immune system functions like killing bacteria, but most importantly, for relaxing blood vessels.
Nitric oxide is vital for heart function and blood pressure, but also encourages blood flow to the extremities, including to your skin. With higher blood flow comes increased oxygen delivery to the skin, and massive improvements in your skin tone. It’s essentially a subtler version of the alive and vibrant skin you get from hardcore exercise.
Even better, improved blood flow can subtly prevent acne, via an increased flow of acne nutrients and antioxidants. Since celery increases nitric oxide levels massively, celery should also improve your blood flow and skin tone.
Read Annihilate Your Acne – get the ultimate diet for clear and glowing skin!
This study halfway confirmed it, testing plant nitrates from celery, lettuce and spinach, and discovering improved blood flow during exercise and rest.
Also promising is the less known celery compound 3-n-butyl phthalide (3NBP), which joins forces with another compound called sedanolide to provide the unique flavour of celery. 3NBP is far from the most researched obscure compound in a vegetable, but the evidence for enhancing blood low is plentiful. In fact, the Chinese government approved 3NBP as an official remedy for obstructed brain blood flow (cerebral ischemia) back in 2002.
This study and this study concluded that 3-n-butylphalode increased cerebral blood flow significantly, and in this study, by enough to prevent neuron death; could it similarly prevent skin cell death? 3NBP is actually known to increase capillary formation in the brain, while strengthening the structure of existing capillaries and enhancing microcirculation. Improved brain blood flow isn’t guaranteed to translate to a flood through the skin, but the raw potential is there, in addition to the proven nitrates.
Combining both compounds, we have an excellent study on celery itself, using long term data from the mass population. Only 3 out of 12 vegetables reduced blood pressure significantly when eaten raw. and they were celery, tomatoes, and scallions.
The great thing is that you can snap off a celery stalk and enhance your skin’s blood flow at any time. Broccoli and kale are powerful vegetables for acne, but celery is particularly convenient.
Inflammation and antioxidants
Celery has some strong if not astonishing bonus powers as well, and the first is calming inflammation. There’s one celery expert called James Duke who claims to have identified over 20 anti-inflammatory compounds in celery. Is he right? One of the confirmed flavonoid antioxidants in celery is called luteolin. This compound is able to lower to numerous pro-inflammatory chemicals behind acne, including interleukin-1b, TNF-a, and COX-2, in both brain and blood.
The problem then? While luteolin is claimed to be celery’s signature compound by almost everyone, its levels are actually normal. The content of 1.05mg per 100 gram beats broccoli (0.00mg), spinach (0.74mg) and kale (0.00mg), but is actually beaten by red grapes (1.30mg). The myth might have started because Chinese celery, a thinner Asian subspecies with thicker bushier leaves, contains 34.87mg per 100 grams.
Forget luteolin then – a far superior flavonoid in celery is apigenin, found in concentrations of 2.85mg per 100 grams. In one study, apigenin strongly inhibited the pro-inflammatory chemical COX-2, the same pain-increasing agent which aspirin inhibits. This time, celery’s content of apigenin is outdone by parsley (215.46mg), but very few mainstream foods, although if you’re stuck in China, then you’re in luck because Chinese celery contains 24.02mg.
Grocery store celery is undoubtedly anti-inflammatory, and for antioxidants it’s also decent. The antioxidants found in celery include apigenin and luteolin, but also quercetin, kaempferol and ferulic acid.
Most are found in good though not monstrous dosages. For example, quercetin is found in 0.39mg concentrations in celery, compared to 15.16mg in boiled asparagus, 14.84mg in raw cranberries, and 21.4mg in raw brown onions. However, celery does have the power to enhance your body’s own antioxidant factories; this study found that celery’s antioxidants increased the body’s superoxide dismutase and catalase output, in addition to glutathione-s-transferase, which detoxifies unhealthy heavy metals and pesticides.
Important article – the top 6 vitamins and minerals for clearing acne
Remember – always eat the leaves of celery. They’re the strongest tasting part, and that’s a sure sign of a well known fact – that most of the antioxidants are concentrated there. You should always hunt down the celery bunch with the most leaves, because some bunches contain next to none.
The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of celery are weaker than other green vegetables but excellent as bonus acne benefits. Vasodilation is the main reason to eat celery.
The one factor that can ruin celery
Celery stalks have few innate downsides. The sugar is non-existent at 1.8 grams per 100 grams. Celery is a happy low to moderate oxalate food with just 11-20mg, unlike spinach or almonds with their 750-800mg and 380-470mg respectively. Oxalates are the sinister plant toxins behind kidney stones, which usually have no effect on acne, but may increase inflammation in the unlucky sensitive.
Celery isn’t a classic food with powerful acne benefits but hidden natural dangers like pistachios, which you have to carefully manage. The only obstacle in celery is completely artificial – pesticides.
Year after year, celery ranks in the Dirty Dozen list for the common agricultural crops most contaminated with pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. In 2010, it ranked 1st, in 2014, 4th, while in 2017’s edition, celery was ranked 9% behind strawberries, peaches and apples. There’s evidently been a gradual decontamination but 9% out of 48 commercial crops is grim news.
One villain is an insecticide called acephate, designed to kill biting and sucking insects such as aphids. Acephate was detected on 34.7% of celery crops back in 2010, and importantly for acne, acephate is strongly linked to increased oxidative stress when swallowed. Acephate is powerful enough that scientists commonly use it in experiments to suppress antioxidants before testing a remedy that increases them.
Acephate is also toxic to human sperm and is a strong xenoestrogen. If you know anybody who’s struggling to conceive a baby, then celery could be why. Acephate has a half life of 10 to 16 days, but after waiting that long, your celery will be rotting away.
Important article – the top 7 natural topical treatments for acne
This is just one example. The thing about pesticides in fruit and vegetables is that one individual source will rarely be strong enough to derail your skin. But the more pesticide-drenched foods you eat, the more the depletion in antioxidants will accumulate. It’s like chemicals in cosmetics; one lathering agent you swallow while brushing your teeth with toothpaste won’t trigger an acne firestorm, but add in mouthwash, tap water, shampoo, make-up and 15 handwash chemicals absorbed through the skin, and your fate will be different.
That’s why you should always eliminate as many minor sources of acne-causing environmental chemicals as you can. Show no mercy to any of them, including celery, to halt the cumulative damage.
Some overly relaxed people might recommend simply washing your celery under a tap to remove the pesticides. Well, before their agrochemical examinations, the FDA not only washes celery, they wash it with a high power industrial washing machine, and it still ends up covered with pesticides.
The advantage is that organic celery is one of the cheaper organic vegetables, unlike organic raspberries or blueberries. Celery has also been compared directly to its conventional counterpart. Calcium and magnesium levels were barely any different, but ascorbic acid, AKA vitamin C, was 118.18% higher in the organic celery, while zinc was 47.93% higher. Those nutrients are almost non-existent in celery anyway, but the more rewarding implication is that the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds might also become richer.
If you’re hunting for acne nutrition on a belt-tightening budget, then sweetcorn (non acne-friendly), avocados, pineapples, cabbage and onions (all excellent for acne) were the official five cleanest crops in 2017.
A brain health booster?
Over the last decade, the thickest clouds of speculation swirling around celery have been over its memory-enhancing powers. Could they be real? Celery can enhance your brain health, but the powers are unfortunately weak, because they centre around luteolin. Luteolin itself is very interesting:
STUDY ONE: the study which gave celery its shining reputation tested luteolin on mice, who woke up and found themselves trapped in a maze. 2 adult and 26 young mice were given 20mg of luteolin daily. Their spatial awareness shot up, allowing them to escape the confusing maze. The older, senile mice taking luteolin performed equally to the younger mice taking nothing.
STUDY TWO: luteolin supplementation restored the spatial awareness and memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease (study).
STUDY THREE: once again, luteolin reversed learning and and memory deficits in rats, and even improved the transmissions between brain synapses (study). The conclusion: “flavonoid luteolin shows great potential… for protecting synaptic function and enhancing memory”.
STUDY FOUR: one massive brain change associated with Alzheimer’s disease is the accumulation of amyloid plaques, which mostly consist of amyloid-β peptides. In this rat study, luteolin reversed both memory and learning impairments caused by amyloid-β peptide accumulation. Brain antioxidant levels also rose, with glutathione and superoxide dismutase rising.
The luteolin antioxidant looks fantastic for memory, but like with its anti-inflammatory powers, the quantities in celery are too small. Celery contains 1.05mg, and the first great study used 20mg. Humans are much bigger than mice too.
Raw honey – a natural secret for wiping out acne bacteria
Again, a myth has spread that celery is an amazing luteolin source, when it’s merely slightly better than most vegetables. There will only be small benefits, although we can’t ignore the cerebral blood flow-boosting 3NBP either…
…but the opportunity isn’t gone up in a puff of smoke quite yet. Why? Because you can eat the real luteolin-rich foods instead. Chinese celery contains 34.87mg per 100 grams. The greatest known sources of luteolin are Mexican oregano (1028.75mg), celery seed spice (811.41mg), juniper berries (69.05mg), thyme (45.25mg), and radicchio (37.96mg). The strength of celery seeds also explains how celery acquired its reputation.
Among more popular foods, thyme is easily accessible, and another two contenders are sage (16.70mg) and parsley (19.75mg). You can purchase celery seeds in bulk on amazon and use them as a spice in recipes. Herbs and spices are evidently the way forward.
Fruits and vegetables which rank similar to celery include red grapes (1.30mg), green kiwi fruits (0.74mg), chicory greens (2.08mg), cantaloupe melons (0.64mg), and lemons (1.90mg). If you combine various foods like this which are merely decent, including celery, then the brain benefits might finally appear. It’s like the opposite of the pesticide problem; celery itself is mildly disappointing, but becomes far better when combined with other luteolin sources.
If you’re both a brainboosting obsessive and an acne-clearing fanatic, then those are some of the top foods to include.
Conclusion
Celery is inferior to broccoli, kale, and spinach for raw acne-clearing strength, but organic celery beats them easily for improving blood flow to the skin. Spinach is also packed with natural nitrates, but with spinach you can’t grab a handful of leaves and swallow them in five seconds flat.
In a one on one duel, broccoli would beat celery, particularly antioxidants and inflammation. However, celery also illustrates how different foods have completely different roles in your acne strategy, and why the smart acne patient eats a wide variety.
Organic celery improves blood flow, while broccoli contains the anti-inflammatory compound sulforaphane. Kale has huge amounts of vitamin A, while onions and garlic provide the raw materials for glutathione production via their sky-high sulphur content.
Some fruits and vegetables might defeat others head to head, but almost every plant has one hidden power for acne – even cucumbers (namely accelerating alcohol detoxification).
NEXT: learn the root causes of acne, clear your skin permanently
Thanks for reading!